Medical Experts Warn About Hot Playground Equipment

Even now, when temperatures are in the 80s and 90s, playground equipment can be extremely hot. And plastic equipment can be even hotter because it absorbs heat and just doesn’t reflect it like medal slides.

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma -

It finally feels like summer and your kids are likely loving playing outside. But that playground equipment can be dangerous.

Even now, when temperatures are in the 80s and 90s, playground equipment can be extremely hot. And plastic equipment can be even hotter because it absorbs heat and just doesn't reflect it like medal slides.

Stephanie Ryans' 2-year-old daughter received second degree burns after sliding down a slide at a Chickasha park Monday.

“She goes down it and about halfway down she starts screaming and starts standing up,” said Ryan.

Stephanie contacted News 9 because she wanted other parents to know what could happen. And paramedics say it does all the time.

“We get a number of calls from worried parents. Kid got on something at the playground, it comes back looking like a bad sunburn and then it starts blistering up,” said Heather Yazdanipour with EMSA.

To prove just how hot that equipment can be, Yazdanipour measured the temperatures of some of that equipment with a heat gun. A black rubber swing registered 140 degrees. Yazdanipour says that's easily hot enough to burn a child, but so was a concrete slab.

“We're registering 112 degrees for the cement. You got a kid who comes out to the park and takes their shoes and socks off and wants to go play around, they're going to burn the soft pads of their feet,” explained Yazdanipour.

But like Stephanie's daughter found out, the slide can be the worst because there's no turning back if it's too hot.

“They're committed. They're ready to have some fun and that's 136 degrees all the way to the end,” said Yazdanipour.

And that's why Heather says parents should test the slide and any equipment with a part of your hand that's not callused, like the back of it, to make sure it's safe before you let your kids play.

EMSA says if your child has a sunburn-like burn you can treat it with cool water or a soaked towel. But if the burn does have blisters, don't put water on it and call 911 or get to a doctor immediately.